When the Night Wind Howls

Ghostly apparitions at the community theater thirteen-year-old Sidonie and her mother join as a way of making friends after moving to a small Indiana town lead Sid to an investigation which uncovers something so sad and so evil it seems it could never be put right--but she determines to try.Thirteen-year-old Sidonie joins forces with a minister and a young technical genius to uncover the secrets of a haunted local theater and battle the forces of evil to save the soul of the handsome leading man

Grade 6-10 An unusual twist on the ``Faust'' legend forms the basis of this story of a haunted theater. Sidonie Grant, 13, and her newly divorced mother move to a small Indiana town, where they join the local theater group. Sid begins to notice strange things, and when her friend Joel admits that he, too, has been seeing ghosts, Sid begins to delve. Her suspicions soon focus on Byron Vincenti, the handsome (but decidedly odd) leading man. Vincenti had sold his soul to the devil for immortality, and can live only through the characters that he plays. The story climaxes during a performance of The Devil and Daniel Webster, when Sid, Joel, and Reverend Aikens use the framework of the play to force the Devil to return Vincenti's soul. When the story stays within the confines of the theater, it is very effective. These sequences capture the multiple emotions of the main mystery, of actors performing in a live production, and the added excitement of the play itself. The section in which Byron tells Sid his sad, strange story, is slow moving. For someone reputed to be a compelling and dramatic actor, Byron's retelling of his own life is curiously flat. There is also a brief scene which will make many librarians shudder: a librarian tells Sid who has checked out all the books on witchcraft. Given the interest in ghost stories and the occult that this age group generally has, however, this book will serve as an additional book on the subject. Susan Harding, Mesquite Public Lib . , Tex.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.